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Low Voter Turnout In Texas Essay

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In the world of politics, voting is one of the most vital aspects to politicians, the local community, and the state. It gives the people who live in the communities a chance to let their voice and opinions be heard through their choice of who they want to represent them in political office or to take care of their town or city. Although many share this opinion, there are people who do not care to vote and do not get involved in politics. What is the underlying reason for this group of people to distance themselves from political affairs?
Registering to vote can be a deterrent for many people because it requires effort to file all the correct paperwork and stay in good standing, which may be the cause for low voter turnout within Texas. Although voter turnout has been steadily climbing within recent years, Texas is still on the lower end of the spectrum for voter turnout in America. Many are eligible, but few send in their ballots or show up to the polls on election day. The projected voter turnout is measured by the state's voting age demographic, eighteen years and older, and further estimated based on ethnic groups.
Back in early Texas history, voters …show more content…

This makes it difficult for candidates to reach out to this demographic to get them to come out to vote. The link between the different ethnic groups plays a role in the voting turnout as well. The Hispanic and African American communities tend to vote at lower rates than the Anglo (white, English speaking) Texans. With the 2008 election of President Barack Obama, the first black president, the vote within the African American community rose greatly and was about equal to the Anglo vote.
Many politicians blame the 2011 Texas Voter ID Law as the cause for many of the issues with voter turnout. This law states which forms of photo identification can be used at the voting booths and some say it violates the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination to

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The extremely poor education system in Texas has resulted in the lowest number citizens with high school diplomas and, therefore, an extremely low voter turnout. E.J. Davis led the most corrupt

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In the article “Voter Turnout” on FairVote’s website they discuss how America’s voter turnout is low compared to other democracies who see as much as 90% voter turnout compared to our 60% average. One explanation given for this is that “...low turnout is usually attributed to political disengagement and the belief that voting for one candidate/party or another will do little to alter public policy…”(“Voter Turnout”). This means that people just do not care about politics or they feel they can have no effect on public

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The most significant factors are income and education. There are high levels of poverty and low levels of education. Texas now has a younger population especially during the election of President Obama back in 2008 and 2012. Young adults vote in small numbers which are another factor to low voting participation. Texas also has a large Latino population, and some are not eligible to vote because they are not legal citizens or registered to vote in general.

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This group of people are less likely to have identification for some unfortunate reason. The law also effects the trust that people have in the voting system. People feel that if the system is not set up to be fair they will not participate. There are only six states that have a strict voter id requirement which include Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Wisconsin, South Carolina Texas and Tennessee (Underhill, 2017). In these states there is an issue of discrimination against minorities.

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